Land of the Giants: The 4 Worlds of Irwin Allen
by Romantic Twist
Summary: When giants come to earth to plunder our advanced technology, the Spindrift, Seaview, Jupiter 2 and Time Tunnel all come into play to defeat them.


Chapter 1:

Mark and Valerie and Betty were walking through the giant city one night, when they came to a large compound. They snuck into the building undetected, and were surprised to see two familiar faces.

"It's Kobick and Altha," said Valerie.

"Who's Altha?" asked Betty.

"Do you remember when Fitzhugh and Val and I went to help a scientist named Franzen work on the guidance system for a spaceship?" asked Mark.

"Yes. I wasn't there, but I knew from discussions back at the ship that it caused a certain tension between Steve and Dan. Dan wasn't sure whether or not we should get involved with a giant scientist. Steve thought that what happened confirmed his suspicions."

"Franzen never betrayed us. Logar betrayed him. He lost his life in an explosion, while insisting on our freedom. Altha tried to kill all three of us with the neutralizer. Kobick was after us at the time too, which didn't help," said Mark.

"Let's hear what they're saying," said Betty.

Hiding behind a large piece of equipment, they peeked out at a giant spaceship. On a giant scale, it was about as large as the time ship (left behind by Oles and Fielder) had been to the earthlings.

Inspector Kobick, head of the Special Investigation Department (SID) was talking.

"Altha, we'll go to earth and help ourselves to samples of advanced little people technology. We'll never get it any other way. Even while I've had some of them in my custody, I've never been able to pry any information about their ship or other technology out of them. Now we can go their world and work the problem from the other end. We'll bring back things for you to study and for me to present to the supreme council as the proudest moment of my career. I've informed the council that I'm going on a vacation to take the extended leave I earned, when I stopped Dr Greer's plan to blow up our city. Lieutenant Grayson will be Acting Head of SID until we return."

"_He _stopped Dr Greer?" laughed Valerie quietly, "It was largely our doing. He wouldn't even listen, when he had Fitzhugh and me held for questioning."

"Shh," said Mark, "I want to know more. We've got to stop this ship of theirs from raiding our planet."

"I'm glad to help you," said Altha, "If Logar hadn't stopped you from taking the little people in the first place, then Franzen and I would have finished this spaceship months ago, without any help from Wilson on our guidance system or any other part of the design."

"You did use Wilson's modifications though?" said Kobick, who was well aware that Wilson was the scientific expert in the group of earthlings.

"Yes, but I'll never get over the way one of them blew up our first model, killing my husband."

"That's what they do," said Kobick, "I've had so many reports of deaths and damages resulting from explosions caused by the Little People. There was a professor who was working on night glasses that would have made it far easier for us to see and catch the little pests, when they operate at night, as they so often did. His laboratory and all his work were blown up, killing him as well. It must have been the little people. They're the only ones with a motive. They caused a hydraulic man prototype to run amok and kill its inventor Professor Gorn. They caused an explosion that took the life of a police chief, because his assistant had invented a chemical foam which would have been invaluable in interrogating these earthling invaders. It just goes on and on. Chief Bulgar heard of their attempt on a depot, which caused another explosion. Yet Bulgar's reports were shut down because Senator Obek actually sympathizes with those dangerous miniature saboteurs. I knew that the only way to get them was to get to their own planet."

"They'll do it, using your own design modifications," whispered Valerie.

"We could actually get back to earth and stop them in the process if we snuck into their ship," said Betty.

"Inspector, have you ever been married?" asked Altha.

"No. I suppose I was too busy rising in the ranks to find the right woman," said Kobick.

"I always thought I'd found the right man, until he sold us out to the Little People," said Altha, "Somehow I doubt you'd do that."

"I could never understand why Dr Berger helped them with our Delta device either. He even tried to frame his assistant Andre for it," said Kobick, "I wouldn't help them get away with anything."

"He really talks a lot of propaganda," said Valerie.

"He's got a willing listener," said Mark, "Franzen's widow blames us for everything. The fact that she tried to kill us doesn't seem to count for much on the guilt scale to her."

"I think they're about to shift to a more domestic discussion," said Betty.

"We'll leave as planned in two nights' time," said Kobick.

"Would you take me out to dinner to celebrate what we've planned?" asked Altha.

"I'd like that," said Kobick, "But it all came about as a result of your achievements. You even had this compound modified with an opening roof, so our ship can launch from here."

"You got me the freedom to operate unmonitored, in secret, unhindered," said Altha.

"I'll pick you up at 6:00 tomorrow evening. I know a great restaurant, where I once got some chicken to keep me going during that stake out for the little people at the zoo," said Kobick.

The two giants left the compound.

"Can't we sabotage this stuff?" asked Valerie.

"They'd know it was us, and put SID guards on the place and repair it. We'll have to get back to the Spindrift and tell Steve what we've found. We've only 2 days to decide what to do," said Mark.

Meanwhile on earth, Tony Newman and Doug Phillips, two American scientists caught in a swirling maze of live history lessons and encounters with aliens, were switched in time and place to a submarine which was underwater at the time. They were soon found and taken to the ship's captain and admiral. When they learned that they were aboard the Seaview (the most advanced submarine in the world), they explained that they were time travellers from Tic Toc 1968.

They were introduced to Lee Crane (former Captain of the Seaview, now promoted to Admiral), Chip Morton (former Exec of Seaview, now its Captain), Sharkey (now the Exec of the Seaview, having served for years as its Chief of Security), and Kowalski (who had replaced Chief Sharkey as the new Chief of Security).

Tony and Doug would not make another journey with this time tunnel. Using the ship's communications equipment, Admiral Lee Crane contacted Tic Toc, and spoke to Ray, who was now in charge of Tic Toc. He soon put Doug in contact with Ray too.

"It's good to hear your voice, Doug," said Ray, "General Heywood Kirk died a few years ago. I'm in charge now. Ann's still here and now happily married. The time tunnel broke down after the trip that put you where you are now. We've been working on a perfected new model. We've almost got more controlled time travel achieved, with the ability to return a subject to the present whenever we like. With your help we could do it."

"We'd be glad to help. We'll arrange to be transported to Tic Toc," said Doug.

"Kowalski can take you there in the flying sub," said Captain Morton, "You'll enjoy the trip. We've recently dug up the recording of the great mood setting music we used to pipe through the flying sub launch bay's speakers in the first year that we used the flying sub. It got lost somewhere along the infinite corridors of archives for a while. You'll like the sound of it. Kowalski, take the Tic Toc returnees to the flying sub.

Security Chief Kowalski led them to the launch bay, and they boarded flying sub, after being fitted with the special safety jackets that released the life jackets if necessary.

The doors opened below the yellow manta shaped submarine, and then it was lowered into the ocean. After travelling underwater for a while, the ship broke the surface and seemed to falter, as it adjusted to the air, and then took to the skies for Tic Toc.

Kowalski dropped them off and prepared to return to Seaview.

Tony and Doug were fondly greeted by their old friends and began to help modifying the time tunnel.

On the planet of the giants, Mark and Valerie and Betty returned to the Spindrift base camp and filled the others in on what had happened.

"Three of you could get back in their ship by sneaking in before the night of the take off," said Steve, "Mark, could you really override the instruments of their guidance system from in there, so that the ship would, for example, crash land in the ocean?" asked Steve.

"And then alter its radio frequencies to get us some help," said Mark, "Kobick and Altha will undoubtedly abandon it and get to shore more easily than we could. If Kobick gets loose on earth, he'll cause more trouble than he does here, but why only three of us?"

"Spindrift has three space suits: one for the pilot, one for the co-pilot and one for any stewardess willing to go out and help deal with any external repairs, should the ship break down while in a sub orbital position," said Steve, "Valerie, I know you'd like to go with Mark. It's probably best if we have all of our men here to work on getting parts for the Spindrift, even without Mark here to repair it. He's needed more on the giant ship to help warn earth or even save it. We'll do what we can here, in case you can't send a rescue flight. Betty, would you like to go with them?"

"I'd love to get back, so long as Kobick doesn't find us," said Betty, "I guess I'd be taking a greater risk of being found and caught if I stayed here. I'm very grateful for the opportunity. I figured it would be you or Dan going on this trip."

"We're the pilots," said Dan, "If we actually get this ship going again, we're the ones to fly it."

"What about me?" asked Fitzhugh, "I'm not much use here."

"We're not risking you making a slip up and getting Mark caught by Kobick and Altha," said Steve, "You're staying with us. With Kobick gone, we may just be able to get some more help from Andre, since Mark won't be here. I'll trust him more this time. He did put it all on the line for us."

Mark, Valerie and Betty took their space suits to the compound and hid out inside the instrument console of Altha's ship. Kobick and Altha took off as planned and headed for earth. Mark tampered with the guidance system from the inside, and caused the ship to crash into earth's ocean and sink to the bottom. They heard Kobick and Altha removing their space suits and talking.

"I can't understand why it went wrong after we entered the relatively safe atmosphere of a planet," said Altha.

"We can return for it later," said Kobick, "With enough little scientists to make sure it works properly for the return trip if necessary. Earth's ocean won't be nearly as deep for us. We can survive the pressure of the depths without diving suits, get to the surface and head for shore."

Kobick and Altha left the ship, finding that its airlock (designed for space) did a good enough job of keeping the water out of the ship too. They reached the surface and made it to a large uninhabited island.

Kowalski was returning towards the rendezvous point with Seaview, when he looked through the viewport of flying sub, to see that there were two enormous giants on an island: a man and a woman.

"Flying Sub to Seaview. Flying Sub to Seaview," called Kowalski.

Meanwhile on Seaview, Exec Sharkey took the call.

"We read you Kowalski," said Sharkey.

"I've got to talk to Admiral Crane," said Kowalski, "He just won't believe what I've found."

"He wants you, Sir," said Sharkey, and passed the hand held microphone.

"Admiral Crane here," said Lee, "Go ahead, Kowalski."

"Admiral, you might think I'm nuts, but there are two giants on the island near your last position."

"Could the Leviathan chasm have reopened?" asked Lee, "It caused that scientist to grow to giant size once before. But it's a long way from here."

"I don't think it was that chasm this time," said Kowalski, "These giants seem to have a far more normal human appearance and behaviour. The Leviathan scientist was facially deformed and very violent and erratic in his behaviour. This pair seems quite civilized. Maybe I could make contact."

"Negative, Kowalski. Under no circumstances are you to take flying sub within their reach. Stay well above them and monitor them. I'm going to have to contact President Nelson and make him aware of the situation."

Admiral Harriman Nelson had left Seaview and become the current President of Earth.

"We're getting another call, Admiral," said Captain Chip Morton, "It's not someone we know either."

"Belay patching me through to the President," said Lee Crane, "I'll take this call first."

Soon Admiral Crane was speaking to Mark Wilson.

"I'm calling from a giant space craft that sunk in your ocean," said Mark, "I'm not a giant myself, and I have two other earth humans with me. We were trapped on the giants' home planet after an accident with a sub orbital flight passing through a space warp. We stowed away on the giants' ship and sabotaged their landing to delay their attempts to raid our technology, which we overheard them planning. We're now stuck on the bottom of the sea in their ship, which they've abandoned. I altered their radio to try frequencies to call for help. Can you get us out, and we'll fill you in on everything we've learned about the giants."

"That could be very useful, and of course we'll help. We're getting a fix on your position even now. Do you have it yet, Chip?"

"Yes Sir," said the Captain, "I'll order diving bell made ready to go down."

"We're sending a diving bell, Mark," said Admiral Crane, "Will we need to cut our way into the ship?"

"No. The airlocks are electronic. We can operate the buttons and open them to get out. We'll just need to get on board your diving bell quickly, before we take too much of these depths," said Mark.

On the planet of the giants, Steve and Dan were walking through the park on one of their rare trips in the day time. To their surprise they saw what seemed to be a flying saucer landing on the grass in the park. They approached it cautiously, wondering what sort of aliens were now invading the giant world. To their surprise, part of the ship's wall opened out as a ramp, and a group of human beings and a robot came out of the ship.

"I'm John Robinson and this is my wife Maureen, my daughters Penny and Judy, and my son Will. Also Major Don West and Dr Smith, as well as Robot," said the man, "Our ship the Jupiter 2 has been lost in space for years, as we've tried to return to our home planet earth."

"We're from earth too," said Steve.

"You've no idea how close you are to a space warp short cut that will take you back to earth. Our ship's incapacitated, but we could navigate you to it, if there's room in yours," said Dan.

"It would be beneficial to both our parties," said Don West.

"More than you think," said Steve. The inhabitants of this planet are giants, and two of them are even now attempting to raid earth's advanced technology. They've hunted us here for two years. We must get back now, not just for our own sake, but to warn earth's governments about it. We have two other passengers and a dog at our base camp. Could you fly us to it first?"

"Hop aboard," said John.

"Warning, warning! Creatures approaching!" said the Robot.

"Did you say 'Giants'?" asked Judy Robinson.

"I sure did," said Steve.

"I think they'd fit that description," said Dr Smith, pointing behind the others.

Steve and Dan turned, along with the Jupiter 2 crew, to see that Lieutenant Grayson was approaching them with two SID officers!

"Well, well. All of the little people and their spaceship as well," said Grayson, "Why couldn't Kobick have searched this place well enough to find it? I told you that you'd had your last break from me, Captain."

"They've mistaken your ship for ours," said Dan, "We're all as good as caught."

"We'll try to lead them away, while you take off," said Steve.

"There'll be no need for that," said John Robinson, as the two SID officers squatted down and reached for them, "Robot! Stun them!"

The Robot blasted both officers with electrical discharge. They collapsed. Steve stared in jubilation. Grayson still needed discouraging.

"Grayson, back off, or I'm sure you'll get the same!" called Steve.

"It would seem so. I thought you weren't killers, after our last encounter," said Grayson.

"He said they were stunned!" called Dan.

"This situation is not going to help either of us," said Grayson, "What do you suggest we do to resolve it?"

"Let us go, and you won't get hurt," said Don West, "Robot will cover us, while we all board the space ship. Then we'll have the ship's weapons turned on you. If we don't take off with the robot on board, you'll be blasted to bits. Now either walk out of sight, or I'll have Robot knock you out too."

Grayson capitulated.

The Jupiter 2 then flew both teams to the Spindrift, where Steve's friends gathered their keep sakes and set a timer destruct sequence for the Spindrift.

"They'll never get our technology from Spindrift now anyway," he said.

Alexander Fitzhugh, Barry Lockeridge, Dan Ericson, Steve Burton, Chipper the Dog, Dr Smith, Robot, Don West and the Robinson family all took off in the Jupiter 2 and approached the space warp.

On earth, Seaview's diving bell team, manned by Captain Chip Morton and two divers, rescued Mark Wilson and Betty Hamilton and Valerie Scott from the giant space ship and took them aboard Seaview for debriefing of their time on another world. Mark and the girls told them everything about the giants, and their paranoic obsession with earth's superior technology. Crane contacted President Harriman Nelson and relayed all of the newly acquired information.

Flying sub returned to seaview, and Kowalski passed on his observations of Kobick and Altha, who had settled on the island to sleep for a while.

"Admiral, I have an idea," said Exec Sharkey, "Could those time travellers use their device to move the giants back to their own planet? It got them here on our ship, not just to another time."

"I could possibly arrange it to do better than that," said Mark Wilson, "I studied the futuristic manual of a time travel ship from the year 5477, while I was on the giant planet. I made lots of notes and was working on the design of my own. I know a lot about time travel now. I think I could help them use their device to actually send the giants not only back to their own planet, but into its future, where what little they've already learned about us will be useless antique information. It would be a great defence against future giants too. Valerie also worked with me on the modifications we made to the giants' ship guidance system in its experimental stage. She'd be a valuable help on this job if it's approved by your leaders."

Admiral Crane ran this past President Nelson over the radio, and got the go ahead to do it. Crane, Mark and Valerie went to Tic Toc in flying sub, and got Mark and Valerie instated as Tic Toc staff. Crane was under guidance from President Nelson to remain at Tic Toc on standby, in case flying sub was needed to assist them again, which it would be, as both Ann and Doug were convinced that the giants would have to be treated with harmless radioactive powder, to enable the modified Time Tunnel to get a fix on them and switch them in time and space.

Betty stayed on board Seaview, until it returned to headquarters.

Jupiter 2 passed through the space warp successfully and flew down to earth. The Robinsons' and Major West's contacts enabled Steve to get in touch with President Nelson's highest officials and give them a lot of information about the giant invasion and the two years of knowledge they'd gathered during their time on the giant planet.

Barry and Penny had noticed the stares that they had attracted from each other, and began to go out on dates, not concerning themselves with the military defence of earth.

Soon all of the Jupiter 2 team, Spindrift team, Tic Toc team and Seaview officers were in touch with each other and working together to thwart the giants under the guidance of President Harriman Nelson.

Mark Wilson and Tony Newman perfected the repaired and redesigned time tunnel to work on the giants.

Then Flying Sub and Jupiter 2 were coopted for the mission, so that regular army and navy and air force officers would be kept in the dark about the giants for as long as possible, and hopefully indefinitely. Both craft were loaded up with the radiation powder required, and they flew towards the island of the giants. Kobick and Altha were soon bombed by Admiral Crane and Don West.

Back at Tic Toc headquarters, Ann McGregor and Doug Phillips were monitoring the giants through the viewer of the time tunnel.

"It's working. We can switch them now," said Ann.

"I think the Flying Sub and Jupiter 2 are far enough out of range now," said Tony.

"Do it," ordered Ray.

Both Kobick and Altha seemed to vanish, from the points of view of Don West and Lee Crane. In reality they arrived in what they would learn was their own planet's future, to learn that the anti-little people propaganda had burned itself out centuries earlier. Kobick and Altha settled down and got married.

Romance was afoot on earth in 1985 too.

Steve and Betty started dating.

Don West and Judy got married and took Barry in to live with them, so that the orphan boy could continue dating Judy's sister Penny.

Valerie Scott married Mark Wilson, and both of them were sent on time travelling missions for Tic Toc, with Ann, Tony and Doug at the controls under Ray's leadership.

During one such mission, Mark and Valerie time travelled back to 1960 on a vital mission. Their assignment was to meet the inventor of heavy metal music, before he came up with it, and advise him to take up jazz instead. While in 1960, Valerie accidentally lost her diary, which she had been compiling with notes since returning to earth. It had information she'd learned about the Jupiter 2's three years in space, the time trips of Tony and Doug, the Seaview staff and their own adventures on the planet of the giants.

The diary was soon found, not long after Mark and Valerie had returned to 1985, by movie producer Irwin Allen. Irwin mistook its contents for a discarded collection of manuscripts for television episodes. He was unable to find the owner, and decided to progressively adapt the contents into four television serieses over the 1960s.

Fitzhugh and Dr Smith became friends, having bonded over the similar transformations from criminal pasts to men who cared about the welfare of young boys.

In 1986, the Robinsons asked all of their close circle of friends from the four adventuresome parties over for a video night. People from Tic Toc, Seaview, Jupiter 2 and Spindrift all came over and watched a four hour documentary special, released on two VHS tapes, which was called "The Four Worlds of Irwin Allen."

It showed clips that summarized loads of episodes from the four serieses, as well as interviews with the casts.

"Look who they've got playing me!" said Doctor Zachary Smith in indignation, as they turned down the volume of the end theme and began to discuss the show, "He's turned me into a comedic villain. They've cast him almost the same way in that Piper episode of Land of the Giants."

"Is there someone inside that facsimile of me?" asked the Robot.

"I lost my diary in 1960," said Valerie, "This Irwin Allen must have found it."

"Well at least Irwin got past the anti-pink tights complaints made by that man who played Lee Crane," said Betty, "I'm glad to see that Irwin decided to have Deanna Lund play you in pink tights in the latter half of Season 1 of Land of the Giants. Heather Young looks great as me in pink in the latter half of Season 2 as well."

"Time travel caused this then," said Tony Newman, "We've seen the Robinsons' return to earth in its past both as the Lost in Space episode VISIT TO A HOSTILE PLANET and the remake Land of the Giants story WILD JOURNEY involving Steve and Dan."

"But we never had such an adventure, the way the Robinsons did," said Steve.

"At least I don't remember it," said Dan, "Irwin must have used up Val's diary's notes and then recycled an old Robinsons adventure into one for Steve and me. I think I'd remember if I'd returned to Los Angeles Airport in 1983 and been shrunken by two time travellers. Looks like Irwin got caught up in his show about you, Tony, and it spilled out into his stories about us."

"Television was Irwin's most voracious monster of all," said Fitzhugh, "Irwin wouldn't have had another idea left in his head after adapting Valerie's diary and then writing new stories of his own. It's the only way to explain the inclusion of that preposterous episode of Land of the Giants, in which Betty and I were supposed to be singing puppets."

Barry thought that it would be most unwise to tell Penny Robinson that he thought Angela Cartwright looked absolutely gorgeous in the clips shown from Lost In Space. Of course he found Penny equally beautiful, and decided to stick to loving the one he was with.

"The point is that these television shows were never supposed to have come into being," said Doug, "We sent Mark and Valerie back to 1960, and now our adventures have appeared as television fiction with a huge fan following. People all over the world have watched the syndicated reruns since the 1960s, all because we unwittingly tampered with history more than we planned to."

"We can never tell them the truth, or it would blow Tic Toc's and Seaview's cover," said Sharkey.

"I'm surprised that the shows are that popular," said Maureen Robinson, "apart from brief hints in DEADLY DART (of a romance between Mark and Valerie) and in THE KIDNAPPERS (of a relationship between Ann and Doug, that never happened in their real lives), there's no serialization of our lives in Irwin's one-off episodic tales. People seemed content to just watch sparks, fires, special effects and dramatic reactions to danger for six years and ever since."

"Maybe it helps our cover if people view it as fictional television," said Kowalski.

"We just have to be more careful when time travelling," said Mark.

"We can't knock off baby Adolf then," said Sharkey, "We might end up with Fitzhugh's father as the replacement timeline's Fuhrer."

Even Fitzhugh laughed.


End file.
